


The Perfect Sky is Torn

by CaiaCaecilia



Category: Dark Matter (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-05
Updated: 2016-04-02
Packaged: 2018-05-24 19:56:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6164872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaiaCaecilia/pseuds/CaiaCaecilia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Following on from my fic "Three's Crying".</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Title : The Perfect Sky is Torn

Author : Caia Caecilia

Rating : Adult

Warnings : Non-con

Characters : One/Jace Corso, Five, Three, Two, Four, Android

Author’s Note : This is the second in a three story arc the first part of which is “Three’s Crying” (that was supposed to be a stand alone fic but the rest of the story wouldn’t go away until I wrote it). The title is from the song “Torn” by Natalie Imbruglia. Also this fic is set after the ending of series One and since I guess Six will not be forgiven he is not part of the crew of the Raza in this fic. If new crew members are set to join in the next series I don’t know who they will be so the crew is strictly One-Five with The Android.

Disclaimer : All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

The Perfect Sky is Torn – Chapter One

It was probably only about an hour but to Three it seemed like a lifetime waiting for rescue after Corso had left, his time spent split between staring at the door willing it to open and staring at One’s back willing it to keep rising and falling, for him to keep breathing.

When the door finally opened Four and Two hesitated on the threshold taking in the sight before them, even the usually stoic Four looking shocked. Two wrinkled her nose and Three couldn’t blame her, he knew the room smelt of sweat and sex and fear. To their credit they only hesitated for a moment before moving quickly. Four moved behind Three and began cutting through the ropes that secured him to the chair and Two moved to the bed, crouching down and using her fingers to check One’s pulse.

Reaching up Three ignored the pain in his shoulders which flared with the sudden movement and he pulled the gag off. 

“It was Corso…the real Corso,” he croaked, his mouth and throat dry. “The bastard’s long gone by now. We need to get One to the ship, to sickbay…he’s drugged and he’s been…” He found he couldn’t complete his sentence, couldn’t say the word.

Two had taken in the state that One was in and had wrapped him in a sheet, Three could see from the pain on her face that she knew exactly what had been done to One. She nodded to Four who had sheathed his sword and he picked One up from the bed ensuring the sheet covered him completely. Three lurched to his feet swaying a little,

“I’ll carry him,” he said.

Stumbling when he stepped forward Two was suddenly by his side supporting him,

“You’ve taken a pretty heavy blow to the head yourself if all that dried blood is anything to go by. Let Four take him and I’ll help you, we’ll get back to the Raza a lot faster that way. ” Two turned her attention to her radio, “We’ve found them. Android meet us in sick bay.” Three didn’t have his radio anymore so didn’t hear the reply, but when Two added, “I can’t talk now but you can meet us at the airlock, and stay on the ship until we get there.” He guessed Five was asking if someone was hurt.

Three wanted to protest but the room seemed to lurch for a second and the headache that had been throbbing behind his eyes since he’d first come around tied to that damn chair had intensified since he’d stood up until it felt as if his skull would explode; so reluctantly he let Two take some of his weight. Two stopped briefly to pick up One’s clothes and Three took back his guns feeling a little better, stronger, with their familiar weight at his waist. They made their way through the lower levels of the space station until they got to the docking ring and the airlock leading onto the Raza.

Five was waiting on the other side of the airlock practically hopping from foot to foot in her anxiety, her eyes widening when she saw Four carrying the unconscious One and the dried blood down Three’s face. Two quickly handed her the bundle of One’s clothes and his gun. Five took them without a word, shock and fear stealing her voice.

The Android was waiting for them in the infirmary and moved towards the wheeled examination table where Four had laid One. Using a hand-held scanner she quickly ran it over him her head cocked slightly to the left as she read the results before relaying the information,

“A potent tranquilizer is present in his system which is being metabolized and should clear his body in approximately 12.5 hours. There are multiple bruises to his wrists and thighs and bruising to his lower back which has caused some bruising to his kidneys. He has a human bite mark at the junction of his neck and shoulder on the right side which will need to be cleaned and dressed. There is also some internal tearing consistent with sexual assault which will also need treatment and a broad spectrum antibiotic should be administered due to this and the bite.”

Turning towards Three she waved the same device over him before he had the chance to smack it away from him.

“Three has a minor concussion caused by a blow to the head, he has strained muscles in his shoulders and rope burns and torn skin at his wrists. A muscle relaxant will help with the shoulder strain and his wrists should be cleaned and dressed.” Turning to Two she handed her the scanner. “If you follow the instructions on there Three can be treated while I look after One, I have a subroutine which deals specifically with the aftermath, both physical and psychological, of sexual assault on males and females. I will take him into the private examination room to treat him and maintain his privacy.”

The Android waited until Two nodded and then wheeled the gurney One was lying on into the adjoining examination room. There was a moment of silence before turning to Three, Two asked,

“What happened.”

“That bastard Corso jumped us. I got knocked out and when I came round I was tied to the chair.” Three paused not really wanting to talk about what had happened but knew Two wouldn’t drop it until she had all the facts, and he thought it would probably be better to get it over with sooner rather than later. So taking a breath he continued,  
“He had One on the bed, he’d undressed him and One wasn’t moving. Corso told me he’d drugged him then he told me exactly what he was going to do, sick bastard was getting off on it. I tried to get free, rip that piece of shit limb from limb, but I couldn’t and he made me watch while he... He said if I didn’t watch he’d kill him. The first time One was pretty out of it, but the second time he started to come around and he tried to fight back but he was still doped up. Corso hit him and held him down until he’d finished then he bit him, ‘leaving his mark’ he called it. He gave One another dose of the drug and got dressed. He said he wanted One to look in the mirror and see...and see his rapist staring back at him. He said he hoped One would space himself.”

Two was very still, no one spoke, although Three heard Five sniff and knew she was crying. Two turned towards Five and Four and said,

“Get to the bridge. Five can you hack into the station's security cameras from there?”

Five looked up at her, eyes wide tears on her face. She hesitated for a second and then seemed to gather herself and she reached up and quickly wiped her hand over her face before nodding,

“Yeah, yeah, it shouldn’t be hard.”

“Good,” Two said. “Search all the feed and find Corso. Check he has left the station and if so in which ship. Four go with her show her where we found One and Three.”

Four nodded, his face its usual unreadable mask, but Three knew that Four considered them his family and he wouldn’t want to be Corso if Four ever caught up to him.

After they had left Two turned back to him and said,

“There was nothing you could’ve done. The damage you’ve done to yourself trying to get free shows that.”

“I was there...I had to watch while that bastard hurt him...”

“I know. When we find him we’ll make him hurt.” Two promised, before turning her attention back to the hand held scanner The Android had given her. “Now let’s sort you out.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Contains some graphic descriptions.

The Perfect Sky is Torn – Chapter Two

Three had to admit Two was a good leader and he could also grudgingly admit, to himself and no one else, that in a fight she might just kick his arse, but she was no doctor. Although she had given him the injection of muscle relaxant which the hand held scanner had told her to, which had made his aching shoulders feel better, her wound cleaning and dressing technique left a little to be desired. Brusque was the best way to describe it. Whatever she was using to clean first his head wound and then his wrists stung like a son of a bitch, and she was none too gentle applying the dressings, and where necessary the bandages. Usually, Three would have complained loudly but on this occasion he felt he deserved all the pain he was getting. He had failed to protect One and he knew that Two paired them up together because she had trusted him to keep One safe. He’d failed, One was hurt, and Two was pissed at him, and he didn’t blame her.

She’d just finished applying the bandage to his right wrist when the door to the side room opened and the Android pushed the gurney with One on it back into the main area of the infirmary. He was still unconscious but was now dressed in pale blue scrubs and his still damp hair indicated that the Android had done more than just treat his injuries. 

“You washed him?” Two asked, moving over to the gurney, closely followed by Three, until they both stood looking down at their hurt crew mate.

“Yes.” The Android replied, looking at them both, her head cocked slightly to one side. “My programming suggests that after sexual assault the victim often feels dirty so I thought that One would appreciate, when he wakes up, knowing that apart from his injuries I have removed all physical traces of his attacker from his body.”

Three looked at the Android as she stood there her face impassive. Sometimes the walking bag of bolts behaved as if she had no understanding of humans at all, but on other occasions, such as now, she behaved as if she was human.

Two nodded, and Three watched as she reached out as if to brush some stray strands of damp hair off of One’s forehead, but her hand hovered uncertainly before she withdrew it. Three knew their fledgling relationship had been over for a while, and that the mistrust before they had discovered that Six had been the traitor had ensured that whatever had been between Two and One was well and truly dead and buried, but he was surprised to see her hesitance.

Two turned away from One and faced the Android, “Will he recover?”

“Physically, yes. The injuries are mostly minor and I am hopeful the antibiotics I have given him will prevent any infection from taking hold. He needs time to sleep off the tranquilizer given to him. Keeping still and calm will help with the healing process so I see no need to try and wake him up before it has worn off naturally.” The Android informed her.

Two nodded, “Good. I’m going to need you on the bridge. We have work to do helping Four and Five trace Corso. 

“Of course, but someone needs to stay with One. I do not believe it would be in his interests to wake up alone.” The Android replied.

“We’ll draw up a rota, take turns sitting with him.” Two stated.

“I’ll do it.” Three volunteered, adding, as Two turned to look at him, “I know the routine with concussions, no sleep for a few hours, and I’ll stay awake much easier here than in my quarters.”

Two hesitated for a moment, and Three felt she was sizing him up, trying to figure out why he was uncharacteristically volunteering himself, before she sighed and said, “Fine.” Before leaving with the Android trailing along behind her.

Left alone with the unconscious One the infirmary suddenly seemed very still and quiet. Three looked down at One and felt his heart clench and a wave of guilt wash over him. Reaching out a hand that trembled ever so slightly he gently brushed the stray locks of damp hair back off One’s forehead, the gesture of comfort that Two had been unable to complete.

Three dragged a chair over from where several were stacked against a wall and sat down by One’s side, waiting. He tried desperately to look anywhere but at One’s still body but his eyes were drawn to the other man, almost against his will. 

He studied the still face, the bruise on One’s left cheek, which stood out starkly against his pale skin. Then he dropped his gaze to the hand that lay on the crisp white sheet that covered the gurney, saw the finger shaped bruises there at One’s wrist, the damning signs of restraint and struggle. His gut twisted at the sight and his mind took him back to the events that had led to those marks, events he hadn’t told the others about, they didn’t need to know the details of everything that had happened in that room, they knew enough. That didn’t stop him from remembering though.

8888888888

Corso had turned One onto his front and had attacked him again. However, this time the drug had started to wear off and One had become more aware of what was happening and had tried to fight him. 

Corso had laughed, “I love it when they try and fight back.” He had crowed at Three before pulling away from One and punching him several times in the lower back, right over his kidneys, effectively immobilising One.

Then he’d flipped One over onto his back and had straddled him, reaching up and grasping One’s wrists, pulling his arms over his head and leaning down over him, crushing his mouth against One’s, the sick parody of a kiss. One had twisted his head away, panting. The drug leaving his system making his head clearer, horror and fear in his eyes as he bucked and twisted trying to get away from his attacker.

Corso had looked up at Three, grinning, “Quite the little firecracker isn’t he,” he’d smirked.

One’s eyes had followed Corso’s gaze and had widened when he had seen Three and realized that his crew mate was watching everything that was happening to him.

“No,” One had sobbed, once again trying to get Corso off him.

Corso had looked back down at One grinning, “Don’t pretend that you don’t like it, because I think you’re really loving every minute you little whore, and I’ll show you just how much you like it.”

Corso slapped One hard across the face stunning him momentarily and moved turning One onto his front again. Leaning on One he held him face down on the bed, and smiling again at Three he winked and made a great show of licking two of his fingers on his right hand. “Now let’s see just how much the whore here enjoys getting fucked shall we.”

Reaching down he pushed his fingers into One who whimpered in response. 

“Now let’s find that special place,” Corso crooned, his fingers moving in and out of One’s body.

Suddenly One stiffened and a strangled cry came from him throat, and Corso grinned, “Found it.”

A certain adventuress young lady that Three had met on a space station recently had introduced him, or probably re-introduced him due to his missing memory, to the wonders of his prostate but he doubted very much if One had ever been with anyone that adventuress in his life. He doubted One would know that whatever his body did, however it reacted, he had no control over it. Three knew One would blame himself and he knew that was exactly what Corso wanted him to do.

Corso had reached underneath One and much to his sick delight had found the growing evidence of One’s forced arousal. 

Three remembered the broken quality of One’s voice as he’d begged it to “stop, please stop...no I don’t want this, I don’t...” and he hadn’t been sure if One had been talking to Corso or his own body, or both.

Corso had replaced his fingers with his cock, but had been careful to ensure he stimulated One’s prostate with each thrust until with a strangled cry One had cum. The most frightening thing then had been his stillness and Corso had laughed and called him a ‘filthy slut’. One had lain perfectly still and quiet, the only movement being caused by Corso thrusting into him. When Corso had cum with a cry of triumph and had leant forward biting One on the shoulder drawing blood One hadn’t flinched. 

When Corso had stood up, wiping himself clean on one corner of the bed sheet, he’d bragged to Three, “There I’ve marked what’s mine, so don’t forget the little whore belongs to me.” One didn’t respond.

Neither did he respond when Corso had produced another hypodermic and plunged it into his arm saying, “a little something to make sure he stays quiet.”

The stillness had terrified Three.

888888888888

Caught up in the memory Three didn’t realise for a moment that a pair of warm brown eyes were blinking owlishly at him, glazed with the drug still, pupils huge. One smiled at him and asked in a voice that slurred,

“Where are we, I don’t remember?”

Three was taken aback, the Android had said it would be hours before One woke up. Although judging from the way One looked completely out of it Three guessed he really wasn’t firing on all cylinders.

“The infirmary,” he finally managed to reply, “On the Raza...we’re in the infirmary.”

“Oh, okay,” One slurred, before peering at Three’s head and frowning, “you’re hurt...you’re head is hurt.”

Three stood up and leaned over One slightly, “It’s okay, I’m fine. It’s just a bump. Do you remember anything?”

One blinked up at him pausing before shaking his head slightly, “not really, just a room, and you were there and I was there but I could see myself...” He trailed off sounding confused, before adding, “I’m tired,” his eyes sliding shut.

Just at that moment the infirmary doors slid open and the Android entered. “One had regained consciousness?” She asked.

“Yeah, for a minute or two. He was confused, didn’t know where he was or what had happened. Besides how did you know?” Three asked.

“I have established a neural link with the infirmary sensors so that I could monitor you both while on the bridge. I sensed a change in his consciousness levels, however, he has fallen unconscious again. But his body is metabolising the drug faster than I had originally calculated and he will soon begin coming around and will be more alert and aware. I must return to the bridge.” The Android stated.

“Any luck finding that bastard.” Three growled.

“Jace Corso is proving to be most allusive.” The Android replied.

“Yeah, I’ll bet he is.” Three said, watching her as she turned and left the room.

Three settled back in his chair and waited for One to wake up.

A couple of hours passed and Three was ignoring his aching back muscles which were protesting at being kept in one position sitting on what must be the most uncomfortable chair in the known universe, when One groaned and moved his head from side to side.

Three pushed the chair back as he stood and One slowly cracked his eyes open and blinked up at him. His eyes looked much clearer this time, less glazed, more focussed. Looking up at Three he frowned and as before sounded concerned when he said, “you’re hurt.”

Before Three could reply One’s expression changed and Three saw the moment that memory came crashing back to One and his life crumbled. Three had to jump back as One leaned over the side of the gurney and vomited onto the floor.

Three acted on instinct and reached out, putting his hand on One’s shoulder when he’d stopped being sick, aiming for some kind of comfort but it had the opposite effect. One cried out and literally threw himself backwards off the gurney onto the floor and ignoring any pain this caused him he scrambled back across the floor as far as he could go until his back hit a wall, putting as much space between himself and Three as he could.

Three held his hands out in a placating gesture, stepping around the gurney hoping to calm the younger man, afraid that in his panic One would further hurt himself. 

One stared at him, eyes wild, “You were there,” he gasped. “You were watching when he... oh, God he...he...”

Three suddenly felt movement beside him and One’s gaze moved from him to the Android who had come into the infirmary, no doubt alerted by her neural link that One was awake.

“No!” One cried out, panicked trying to scrabble back through the wall behind him, trying to get away.

Three turned towards the Android and saw the hypodermic in her hand.

“A mild sedative to calm him.” She explained, clearly puzzled by One’s extreme reaction.

Three stepped in between her and One trying to block One’s view. “Put it down you stupid machine, can’t you see he’s terrified.”

Not waiting to see if the Android complied Three turned back to One and moved slowly towards him. “It’s okay we’re back on the Raza. You’re safe, he’s not here, no one’s going to hurt you, I won’t let anyone hurt you, I swear.”

Three stopped moving when he saw One flinch back from him, tears streaming down his face, “You watched, you saw what he did.”

The hurt in One’s voice felt like a punch in the gut and suddenly all of Three’s resolve fled and he stumbled back, away from One’s devastated expression. Suddenly, Two was there between him and One and Three took his chance and fled the infirmary.

He half stumbled, half ran to his quarters and all the way there a voice, dripping contempt sounded in his head, repeating, “coward, coward, coward...” over and over again.

The voice sounded a lot like One.


	3. Chapter 3

The Perfect Sky is Torn – Chapter 3

One awoke with a gasp, his heart beating so hard in his chest it felt as if it might explode. He was wet with sweat and as the contents of his dream re-played in his head he had to try hard to hold in the sob that wanted to escape his lips. He turned and blinked across the room at the bedside lamp that gave his quarters a warm glow. He never slept in the dark now, too many monsters lurked in the shadows. He didn’t sleep in his bed either, the first night in his quarters after the attack he’d ended up in a corner of the room, piles of bedding and pillows on the floor, like a nest. But with the wall at his back and a view of the door he felt safe. Well, maybe not safe but at least he could get a few hours sleep at night before being woken up by nightmares.

Flopping over onto his back One stared up at the ceiling knowing sleep would be escaping him for the rest of the night and thought about the last few weeks as he knew he had a decision to make.

Waking up in the infirmary he’d had a moment of warm, slightly fuzzy around the edges, confusion. Three had been peering down at him and he’d noticed that he had a dressing on his head and had felt concerned and had asked Three if he was hurt. Then it had hit him like an avalanche of memory and sensation. Rushing into his mind, images and feelings, and sounds, and he’d known what had happened to him, what Jace Corso had done to him and he’d thrown his breakfast up all over the floor. While recovering from that he’d felt the hand on his shoulder and he’d panicked thinking Corso was there, that he was going to hurt him again, and all he’d wanted to do was escape.

More memories had assailed him then. Memories of Three watching everything, never looking away, never closing his eyes, always watching. 

Then more fear as he’d seen the Android approaching with the needle and he’d been filled with an irrational terror that had only subsided to an extent when he’d heard Three’s voice trying to calm him down. But all he could see were Three’s eyes watching, always watching.

Sighing One remembered it had taken Two a long time to calm him down. Hysterical and panic-stricken, not exactly his finest hour, not that he’d had too many of those lately.

When he’d finally calmed down he’d wanted out from the infirmary as soon as possible. One look at the pity in Two’s eyes had told him that she knew what had happened to him. No doubt Three hadn’t been able to wait to let the whole crew know what One had let Corso do to him. Too weak and pathetic to stop him. Or at least that’s what he told himself because even that was better than the thought that maybe he hadn’t stopped Corso because secretly he hadn’t wanted to.

Holding his shit together long enough to convince Two and the Android that he was able to return to his quarters had been one of the hardest things he’d ever done, but it had worked, although Two had insisted on walking him back to his quarters and it hadn’t been easy keeping her from coming in with him.

As soon as he’d locked the door his façade had cracked and disintegrated. He’d felt drained and his legs had turned to jelly, as if they were going to give out on him. He’d thrown a hand out to steady himself against the wall and had caught sight of the finger shaped bruises around his wrist. He’d only just managed to stumble to the bathroom before he’d thrown up into the toilet. There hadn’t been much left in his stomach and it had mostly been bile and dry retching, but when it was finally over he’d lurched over to the sink and turning on the tap had washed his mouth out. Standing he’d come face-to-face with Corso; pale, haggard, a livid bruise standing out on his cheek, eyes wide and full of terror, not the confident, sneering, swaggering Corso from hours before. He’d been frozen to the spot in fear and it was the closest he’d ever come to wetting himself . After a moment when he had thought his heart might beat so hard it would explode out of his chest the rational part of his brain kicked in and he realised he was looking at his own reflection. He tried to swallow down his fear and forced himself to look at that reflection, the face that was so familiar, now looking twisted and ugly, the face of a monster. Unable to stand it One had grabbed a towel from where it hung by the sink and hastily covered the mirror over.

He’d stumbled back into the main room and realised he was exhausted but looking at his bed he couldn’t bring himself to lie down. Instead he’d ripped the bedding from the bed and had constructed his nest in the corner. He’d lain down and stared up at the ceiling, much like he was now, although that time he’d been trying very hard not to think. He had only moved when the ship’s systems had begun to lower the lighting in his quarters as ship time indicated it was night and he’d gotten up, ignoring the various aches and pains in his body, reminders of what he’d suffered, and had switched on the bedside lamp.

He’d managed to hide in his quarters for two days after that, the Android bringing him meals he mostly scraped into the waste chute, and antibiotics in tablet form, no more injections for which he was thankful. The Android had even offered him counselling, stating that it was part of her programming. He didn’t want to talk to anyone about what had happened let alone a machine so he had firmly declined, well told her to ‘fuck off’ and closed the door in her face. He had apologised when she had brought his lunch later that day and told her he hadn’t wanted to offend her when she was being kind. Her reply was kind of comforting,

“There is no reason to apologise as I cannot be offended, neither can I be kind, I was merely responding to my programming.”

This was comforting because at least she was treating him just as she always had. 

Two had come to get him on the third day, insisting that he couldn’t stay in his quarters anymore. He’d nearly told her to ‘fuck off’ too but then she’d pulled out the big guns and told him he was frightening Five who was worried he would ‘do something stupid’ if left alone. So grudgingly he’d followed her to the mess for breakfast.  
Every step closer to the room, to the others, had been torture and he’d found himself going slower and slower if only to put off the inevitable for a few more moments. They all knew, that thought was agony.

When he’d entered the room, trailing after Two, Five had jumped off her chair and come towards him, arms open, no doubt to hug him. The thought of being touched horrified him and he’d flinched away from her stopping her in her tracks, tears welling up in her eyes that she blinked away. Two had seen him back away from Five’s touch and anger had flashed across her expression. He had sat at the table and so began the ritual that now took place at every meal time, he took a few bites and then pushed the rest of the food around his plate while keeping his eyes firmly fixed on his cutlery. Two glared, Five sniffed and tried not to cry keeping up a line of too cheerful chatter, Four ate quickly and efficiently and left and Three would either get up and leave when One entered the room or would walk in and walk out again if One was already there. One felt he’d done more harm to their cohesion as a crew then even Six’s betrayal had. He was a liability they’d be well rid of.

Apart from meal times he avoided them all for the rest of the time, but sitting in his quarters had done nothing but give him time to dwell on things and remember, and he didn’t want to remember. One day he’d gone down to the lower decks, wanting out of his room but also wanting to make sure he wouldn’t meet anyone, how he’d envied Five her ability to disappear into the vents. While there he had felt restless and on edge and for no reason had started to run. He’d run until he could barely stand up and had stumbled back into his room and showered. The water turned up as high as it would go washing away the sweat and ache, for once not scrubbing at himself trying to wash away the feel of Corso on his skin.

So now he ran every day. Circuits of the lower decks, his feet beating out a rhythm as they rose and fell against the decking, his mind clear and empty only concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. Running until exhausted. Maybe that’s what he needed to do now he thought to himself knowing he wouldn’t get back to sleep, but then he chided himself for trying to put off the inevitable. He’d known he’d needed to make a decision tonight when he’d woken up and he had to stop being a coward trying to put it off and get on with it, and he knew where he needed to be.

Getting up One quickly got dressed and slipped out of his quarters making a pit stop in the mess, raiding Three’s booze stash he took the full bottle and then decided that the quarter full bottle had might as well come along too since plenty of Dutch courage may be needed. 

Every night he dreamt of what had happened to him. The events after the drug had worn off were vivid and brutal but the details of what had gone on while he’d been drugged up were less well defined, but sometimes when he slept his mind would suddenly replay something that had happened in sharp detail and the pain of remembering would wrench him from his sleep. That was what had happened tonight and he’d woken up to the sound of Jace Corso in his head, the amusement evident in his voice as he’d said, ‘How long do you think it’ll be before he walks into an airlock and spaces himself?’


	4. Chapter 4

The Perfect Sky is Torn - Chapter 4

Three awoke with a cry, sitting up in bed his hand flailing for the light switch as he tried to calm his breathing and heart beat down. He blinked against the light when his fingers finally found the switch and blew out a long, steadying breath as the details of his nightmare came back to him.

He’d been back in that damned room, tied to the chair unable to move or speak, unable to help, watching while Corso did unspeakable things to One. In the dream Corso had leant forward and bitten One at the junction between his right shoulder and his neck, just as he had in reality. But instead of One’s eerie silence this time One screamed and when Corso looked up Three was horrified to see blood glistening over the lower half of his face, One’s neck a bleeding ruin, his blood arching in an arterial spray that covered the bedding. Corso grinned at Three revealing a row of sharp pointed teeth, the teeth of a predator. Suddenly he was moving over One’s lifeless body towards Three, the room morphing into a corridor on the ship ‘Far Horizon’ Corso becoming one of its infected crew. 

That was the point Three had awoken and he had no intention of going back to sleep tonight. It certainly wasn’t the first disturbed night’s sleep he’d had since One had been attacked, and he was sure it wouldn’t be his last. In fact he hadn’t had a night yet when some detail of that horror hadn’t been re-played by his subconscious.

While he got dressed Three thought about what a coward he was being where One was concerned. He couldn’t stay in the same room as the guy knowing One blamed him for not helping him. Not long after they had emerged from stasis, memories wiped clean, Three had discovered that seeing hurt in One’s eyes made something deep inside him hurt too. So he acted like an arse, teasing and accusing, so what he mostly saw in One’s eyes was annoyance, contempt and occasionally out-and-out dislike, that he could deal with. However, at times, like when Sarah had died and One had come to him apologising, blaming himself, and Three saw the depth of hurt in One’s warm brown eyes Three hurt and that made him feel vulnerable, and he didn’t like that feeling.

As he left his quarters Three decided that what he needed was to get mind-numbingly pissed so that memories of Corso and hurt brown eyes looking to him for help would be banished, if only for a few hours. He headed towards the mess knowing he had a bottle or two stashed away there. Opening the container where he kept his whiskey he was surprised to find it missing. Not the kid or the Android, certainly not Four, and he guessed Two wasn’t the type to drink alone, so that only left one person and he didn’t think One drinking alone was a good idea. 

Three quickly made his way to One’s quarters but couldn’t get a reply and so he flipped open the entry panel and quickly short circuited the mechanism and the door slid open, he had had the kid teach him how to do it after One had done it on the ‘Far Horizon’ when they were cornered, it seemed like a good skill to have. One wasn’t in the main room and Three frowned at the stripped off bed, then seeing the pile of bedding in the corner his heart sank as it told of a fear that One was having to go through alone, because he was pretty sure the younger man didn’t usually sleep on the floor in a corner of the room. Only one other place he could be so rapping quickly on the bathroom door Three pushed it open and peered inside, again empty and the covered over mirror more evidence that One was not doing well. Three stood for a moment absently chewing his lower lip as he tried to figure out where One had sneaked off to with a bottle or two of alcohol, the answer came to him in a flash,

“Shit!”, he swore, running out of One quarters and heading towards the nearest airlock as fast as he could praying to a God he didn’t believe in that he wouldn’t be too late.

Three skidded to halt before he turned the corner into the corridor where the airlock was located. Peeking around the corner he saw One sat on the floor opposite the airlock, leaning back against the wall a partially drunk bottle of whiskey in his hand staring at the airlock door. Three hesitated calming his breathing, suddenly wondering if he was the best person to be doing this, maybe he should go and get Two? Shaking his head he knew there might not be time for that and knowing that this was a conversation that he had to have with One and that he’d put it off too long already.

Trying to go for casual, but sure he was probably failing spectacularly Three walked around the corner and stopping before he reached the airlock door he slid down the wall until he was sitting nearly, but not quite, opposite One. One had watched him approach no expression on his face to clue Three into what he was thinking.

Clearing his throat Three said,

“Is this a private party or can anyone join in.”

One snorted and took a long drink from the open bottle in his hand.

“Any of that to share?” Three asked One, hoping to get the bottle away from him.

Without reply One reached down next to himself and produced a second bottle about a quarter full and skidded it across the deck to Three.

The silence stretched out making Three squirm until he couldn’t stand it any longer,

“So, fancy meeting you here.”

One didn’t take the bait and just ignored him. Three cleared his throat and tried again,

“Seriously, what are you doing here?”

“Thinking.” One finally replied.

“Thinking, about...” Three left the question hanging in the air.

One took another swig out of his bottle before fixing him with a stare and asking with a sneer,

“As if you give a shit. As if any of you give a shit.”

Three frowned before replying,

“Hey, that’s not fair...” 

One interrupted him with a snort of derision,

“Oh, really, I’m surprised you can stand being in my company this long, you haven’t been able to stand being in the same room as me lately. Then there’s Two she just glares at me, what is it, is she angry I wasn’t man enough to fight him off?” One’s voice was getting louder the bitterness in it surprising Three. “Four is kinda like you only stays long enough to eat and then disappears without a word and Five...well she always looks like she wants to cry every time she sees me. Not her fault but it hurts to know I’m hurting her.”

Three was shocked by One’s words and shook his head,

“No, no you’ve got it all wrong...”

Again One interrupted, “Oh, please if I did do what Corso suggested and walked out the airlock without a suit you’d forget me in a week.”

Three took a long pull on his own bottle before replying,

“It’s not like that,” he told One, “Two isn’t angry at you, she’s angry at Corso, angry at the fucking universe for letting this happen to you, and majorly pissed off at herself for not being able to find the son of a bitch. 

Four is just in ninja mode. He’s not spending any time with the rest of us either he’s always in his training room practicing exactly how he’s going to dissect Corso when we do catch up with him. You know him, he sees us as his family and I get the impression that if anyone messes with his family they’d better be good at running and hiding cause he ain’t gonna give up.

Five is upset, you’re right, but a couple of days after we got back, while you were still holed up in your quarters she told us about what had happened with Wexler and Cain. What they’d threatened to do to her and how you’d made up your mind to tell them you weren’t the real Corso. She told us she’d begged you not too, that she thought they’d kill you but that you had insisted you had no choice, you had to try and save her. She is upset about what happened to you but she’s also sad that she couldn’t do anything to save you and she’s really afraid that you’re going to do something stupid, like kill yourself.

And me...I’m just a coward. I...can’t face you knowing I couldn’t help you, I couldn’t stop him from...from hurting you,” Three’s voice hitched with emotion but he continued, “watching him hurt you, it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever experienced. And I had to watch he told me if I didn’t, if I looked away or closed my eyes he’d kill you, slit your throat. I’m sorry.”

Three hung his head and the silence stretched until One finally spoke,

“I didn’t know. I’m sorry...”

Suddenly annoyed Three looked up at him and growled,

“No...no, you don’t say you’re sorry, you have nothing to apologise for. None of it was your fault...”

“I was too weak,” One said, “too weak and pathetic to fight him off, if it had been you or Two or Four you would never have let him do that to you,” his voice trailed off into an almost whisper as he added, “and you’d never of enjoyed it.”

“I knew it, that sick bastard.” Three spat, modifying his tone when he saw One flinch at his words. “It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t want that he made you...”

One interrupted him and Three felt his heart clench at the self-loathing he could hear in One’s voice,

“I came all over myself while he was...doing that. He was right maybe I am a filthy slut, who else would enjoy their own...ra...rape.” He barely managed to get the word out and reaching up One swiped angrily at his eyes.

Three was so mad if Corso was there he was pretty sure he could rip him limb-from-limb with his bare hands.

“Look at me,” One continued, “so pathetic if I did have the guts to space myself you’d all be better off.”

“Enough,” Three snapped, “don’t ever think that. Ever! We’re the ones who have fucked up. Leaving you on your own to deal with this, ‘giving you space to work through it’ or some crap like that. The truth is we were afraid, we didn’t know what to say or do. This is what you do.”

One looked at him frowning,

“What?” he asked.

“Knowing what to say, knowing the right thing to do...that’s you. The kid is the brains, knowing how to fix stuff, knowing how things work, half the time I can’t understand a word she says. Me, Two and Four...well we’re the muscle if you like, the fighters and you...you’re the heart, you stop us from doing stupid things that are wrong, you stand up for what you think is right no matter what, and you always know what to say. If this had happened to any of us, and it could have, you’d have known what to do, what to say, but we...we just didn’t. But that can change now, you don’t have to be on your own anymore we can get through this...”

One shook his head,

“You don’t understand,” he said, “It never goes away, it’s always there in my head, he’s always there in my head. I can’t escape him. But how could I,” he said giving a short mirthless laugh, “he’s always with me I just have to look in the mirror or open my mouth to speak and there he is.”

“Things will get better, it’ll take time, but we’ll do more, all of us.” Three promised.

“It’ll never get better,” One said, his voice cracking with emotion.

“If I could take the memories away I would...”

Three stopped talking when One looked up at him an odd look on his face, eyes wide, slightly wild, he suddenly put his bottle down and lurched to his feet. Pointing at Three he nodded, saying, 

“Yes, yes, that’s it, that’s the answer.”

Turning away from the airlock he suddenly started walking down the corridor, one hand on the wall as he was a little unsteady on his feet.

Three scrambled up and quickly followed him.

“What, what’s ‘the answer’” He asked.

“Take the memories away.” One answered. “We know how to do that.”

Three was confused for a moment and then he realised where they were heading. Speeding up he got in front of One threw his arms wide and made him stop. Shaking his head he said,

“No, absolutely not.”

One looked at him and Three’s heart broke at the hope in One’s eyes as he nodded at Three and said,

“Yes, yes, it’s perfect. Just put me into stasis and use the same programme as before and it’ll all be gone, wiped clean like it never happened.”

One tried to move past Three, but Three wouldn’t let him by.

“That’s the stupidest idea you’ve ever had.” He told One. “If you’re going to do that you might as well space yourself.”

One frowned at him, confusion on his face.

Three continued, 

“If you do this you might as well be dead, you’ll be killing yourself. The person who comes out of stasis wouldn’t be you. It would be a stranger. You’d be gone. That bastard would have won. Your body might still be walking around but you’d be gone.”

One looked at him and half-heartedly tried and failed to push past him.

“I thought you’d be glad to get rid of me.” He whispered.

Something washed over Three at that moment, alone with One, standing so close to him he could feel his heat, looking straight into his warm, brown eyes. Something washed over Three that took him by surprise when he realised what it was and he stuttered out,

“No...no don’t think that, never think that. I...I don’t want to be rid of you, I lo...like you.” Pulling himself together he added, “let us help you.”

One hesitated and then finally nodded. Three let out the breath he hadn’t noticed he’d been holding and he said,

“Good. Let’s go back and pick up those bottles, make some coffee and wait for the others we need to all talk together.”

“Okay.” One agreed.

As they walked back to pick up his whiskey Three added,

“We’ve still got some of that real coffee left that Six had stashed in his quarters. That should help stave off that hangover you’d otherwise be enjoying in a couple of hours.”


	5. Chapter 5

The Perfect Sky is Torn - Chapter 5

Two looked around the table at her crew and something deep inside her relaxed a little, and for the first time in too long she felt like they really would get through this. Three was telling one of his tall-stories in between bites of a real beef burger, no meal worms this time, while Five laughed and asked questions, Four smiled and even laughed occasionally and even One smiled. Not one of his paper thin smiles that never made it passed his lips, but a real genuine smile that made it all the way to his eyes.

It had been hard getting here for them all, but for One and Three especially. What had happened to One had been horrific and instead of the crew pulling together to help him, and for all of them to try and get through the trauma of it, they had all tried to deal with it on their own, which hadn’t helped any of them.

The change had happened the morning when she walked into the mess and smelt the real coffee, which had barely covered up the smell of whiskey, and had seen One and Three sitting across from each other sipping at their coffee and both looking up, but remaining silent, when she entered the room. She’d know that a fundamental shift had occurred. The fact that they were in the same space was a significant improvement but there was something else, something heavy and fraught, hanging in the air. Something she still wanted to know about, but which she’d wisely decided they’d needed to keep to themselves.

Four and Five had joined them and they’d all eaten together. Surprisingly it had been Three who had finally spoken of how they needed to repair the crew, repair each other. None of them could argue. What had happened to One and Three had come so soon after Six’s betrayal, the suspicion and accusation which surrounded that, and all they had endured in GA custody and all they had had to do to escape. They were falling apart and if things didn’t change either someone would leave or the lack of trust would lead to someone getting killed on a job. In a universe full of known and unknown enemies they only had each other.

So began the process of trying to get back to some kind of normality. Everyone ate together and everyone had tasks to do on the ship, although sometimes One would get a haunted look in his eyes and would disappear down to the lower decks to run, when that happened one of the others would just do whatever tasks he had left to complete without comment. The next day he’d be back looking more centred and the routine would continue.

One also agreed to take the Android up on her offer of counselling, a little reluctantly at first, but after a few daily sessions he admitted that it actually helped and that talking to her was surprisingly easy as he knew there would be no judgement or condemnation from her. Two had to admit the Android did have a way of listening that seemed to unconsciously encourage you to unburden yourself, and not for the first time she thanked whatever glitch in the Android’s programming had produced such a unique individual and not just a machine.

Perhaps the most surprising thing was that One somehow managed to convince Three to go and talk to her as well. Two wasn’t sure if he really did any talking or if he just sat in silence but it seemed like progress so she took it as such.

As the weeks went by they needed to earn some money, but wanted to keep a low profile for now after their run-in with the GA, so they pulled off a couple of easy robberies. Never taking from anyone who couldn’t afford if and not hurting anyone. They had been quick, easy in-and-out jobs and Five and One had stayed on the Raza. Although One was getting better he still had moments when he would freeze and they knew he was remembering something from his ordeal, it was after this that he usually had to go running. Also he needed his personal space and could not stand being touched. Basically he was too unstable to be trusted on a job. He knew it and Two knew it hurt him to be left behind , but she couldn’t risk herself or the others just to make him feel better. Five had also balked at being left behind, but had readily agreed when Two had pulled her to one side and told Five that she needed her to stay with One on the Raza to look out for him.

They had just done a lucrative job and after re-fuelling and some minor repairs had just enough left for a celebratory lunch of real meat and, as Five was now pointing out, some real cake for dessert.

“Over at that counter,” Five said while pointing across the restaurant they were sitting in, “all the cake you could eat, made with real sugar it said, and real chocolate. We could all have a piece we’ve got enough money left over.”

“I could go for some real chocolate.” Three said, as he finished off his burger.

“Okay, okay,” Two gave in and passed the last of their money across to the girl.

“I’ll need some help to carry it all,” Five said as she stood up.

“I’ll come.” One smiled, “I’m not passing up the chance of real sugar and chocolate.”

Two watched them walk together across the restaurant towards the cake counter, which had a few people gathered around it waiting to make their choices from what was on offer, and felt that tense place inside relax even more.

“One seems more at peace with himself.” Four observed.

Before she could answer Two was distracted by the sounds of a fight breaking out at one of the tables near the entrance. A couple of men were exchanging blows and swearing at each other very loudly and she turned to look, but then as fast as it had begun it seemed to be over and the men took their argument outside.

“Well that was a crappy fight, no entertainment at all.” Three grumbled.

Two smiled until she turned her attention back to One and Five at the cake counter and standing up to get a better view asked,

“Where are One and Five?”

8888888888888888

One was beginning to regret his offer to help Five as the small crowd at the cake counter pressed uncomfortably close, but he breathed deeply and steadily as the Android had taught him and felt his rising panic begin to subside somewhat. He focussed on Five who was literally bouncing with excitement at the thought of real cake, but then again she did get extraordinarily upbeat when it was chocolate protein pudding day on the Raza so he guessed he shouldn’t be too surprised.

The sounds of an argument rang out from behind them, towards the entrance, and One began to turn to look, along with everyone else who was waiting, when he felt something small and round jabbed into his ribs and a voice hissed in his ear,

“Come with me now and don’t try anything or the girl dies.”

Looking at Five he saw a look of fear on her face as she looked back at him and a tall woman was pressed tight up against her side, a smile on the stranger’s face as she looked back at him made the threat to Five evident in her cold eyes.

Afraid for Five, One allowed himself to be quickly escorted away from the counter and out a back exit which was nearby. Two more thugs were waiting outside and he and Five quickly had their hands cuffed behind their backs and gags put in their mouths. As they were dragged along the empty corridor One held his fear in check for Five’s sake, if he fell apart it wouldn’t help her. He tried telling himself that this could be being orchestrated by anyone, the GA, one of the corporations they’d pissed off, someone from their past they didn’t remember...it didn’t have to be ‘him’.

Reaching an airlock a tall, well-built man was waiting for them,

“Hurry up we don’t have much time.” He said, helping to push them into a shuttlecraft. “The boss is waiting planetside.”


	6. Chapter 6

The Perfect Sky is Torn - Chapter 6

One clamped down hard on his growing sense of panic for Five’s sake. They were sat one in front of the other on the shuttle so he couldn’t see how she was handling their situation but he guessed she was pretty scared. He prayed this was being done by an unknown enemy because if it was his fault, if it was Corso and Five was caught up in this because Corso was after him again he would never forgive himself.

The shuttle ride was quite short so he guessed their destination was one of the two inhabited planets in the same system as the space station. Upon landing their kidnappers hauled them both out of the shuttle and half dragged, half pushed, them along seeming to be in a hurry. One got a quick look around before they were ushered into a derelict looking building that the shuttle had landed outside of. The area looked like it had once been industrial but was now very rundown, the kind of place where no one would ask any questions or particularly care what went on. 

They entered an abandoned warehouse, a huge building with a high roof, crates that looked fairly new scattered around and some ground vehicles parked off to the right. Again there wasn’t much chance to get the lay of the land as they were hurried through a door and down a corridor before being pushed into what had once been a large office but was now converted into a jail. Along one wall a set of four cells had been constructed using metal bars as walls and even the doors to each cell being made of bars. Not a force field in sight it looked crude and old fashioned but One thought it was probably very effective as without a key or superhuman strength no one was going to force their way out.

He and Five were marched up to the two centre cells and the doors were unlocked. One risked a quick glance at Five before a cuff to the side of his head made him turn his gaze forward again, she was pale but holding it together  
.  
Once the cell doors were opened the restraints were removed from their wrists and they were both pushed into their respective cages. One stumbled forward and quickly turned to see the cell being locked and their escorts leaving the room without a word. Reaching up he ripped the gag from his mouth and threw it on the floor. A quick look at his new home showed very little which he could imagine would be any help in an escape attempt. Spartan summed up the cells contents, basically a wooden bench against one wall presumably for sitting and sleeping, and a bucket in the corner which didn’t need much imagination to guess what that was for One thought in disgust.

Turning to the neighbouring cell he saw Five also taking in their surroundings her eyes wide with fear, turning towards him she reached out to him through the bars. He hurried over and took her hands in his and felt them trembling. He squeezed them and again pushed his own fear down so that he could summon up a smile and hoped he sounded reassuring when he said,

“Hey, it’ll be okay. The others are already looking for us and they’ll get us out.”

Five looked into his face and took a deep breath, steadying herself and One marvelled that one so young could be so brave. She gave him a faltering smile of her own and nodded,

“I know, I know. It’s just what’s going to happen in the meantime, who’s done this?”

“I don’t know but I promise it’ll be fine. I won’t let anyone hurt you.” One told her.

He’d been hoping to comfort her but she pulled her hands from his and took half a step back away from him. She squared her shoulders and lifted her chin and for a second One was reminded of Two when she was pissed off.

“We’ve been through this before,” Five said, “with Wexler and Cain. I’m not a child that you have to protect. I don’t want you getting hurt or worse because of me...”

She was interrupted by the sound of the main door to the room opening. They both turned towards the sound and two of the thugs from the shuttle stepped into the room moving to stand either side of the door as their boss entered the room. One felt the bottom of his world fall away from him. For a moment his head spun and a loud buzzing filled his ears. Everything and everyone else melted away and all he could see was Jace Corso.

It was Five’s gasp that brought him back to himself. He tore his gaze away from Corso and turned to Five to see shock on her face as she looked from him to Corso and back again. Of course she hadn’t seen the real Corso before and One could understand that the exact resemblance was probably a shock.

Making himself turn back to Corso he took a couple of deep breaths before asking,

“What do you want Corso.” 

One hoped his voice didn’t shake but he knew that it did.

Corso smirked at him before replying,

“Don’t be coy handsome you know exactly what I want. I must say I’m glad you didn’t space yourself in the end, that would’ve been a waste.”

Turning from One he walked towards the cell that contained Five saying,

“But my, my who’s your little friend? She’s quite a pretty thing.”

“Get lost you creep.” Five spat at him.

One looked across at her and anger and disgust was evident on her face.

Corso laughed delightedly,

Oh, feisty I like that.” Leaning towards the bars of Five’s cell he added’ “you and me are gonna have some fun sweetie.”

Anger surged through One and he stepped forward banging his hands against the bars of his cell.

“NO!” He shouted. “She has nothing to do with this, you leave her alone.”

Laughing, Corso turned his attention back to One, “Jealous?” He asked, “don’t worry you’re still my favourite, but it doesn’t hurt to change things up a little you know.”

Now he had Corso’s attention One was desperate to keep it, keep Corso focussed on him and not Five.

“We don’t need her to have fun.” He said to Corso. 

Corso looked back at him a smile on his lips as he raised a questioning eyebrow and took a couple of paces back. “Really, and what fun could we have together?” He asked One.

One swallowed past the lump in his throat and firmly told himself he could do this, he could do it for Five. Trying to smile seductively, but sure he was failing, he forced himself to look Corso in the eye as he said,

“You know the last time when you...,” One had to take a deep breath before continuing, “when you were with me you were right, I...I enjoyed it. You made me...”

Five interrupted with a cry, “No, no don’t do this.” Turning to Corso she said, “He’s lying, he hates you, you make him sick, you’re disgusting and when our friends get here they’re going to kill you, you sick bastard.”

Corso threw his head back and laughed. “Oh, I do like you girl.” 

He turned to one of his thugs who stood silent and unmoving at the door to the room,

“Unlock his cell.”

The man walked to One’s cell and unlocked the door and pulled it open standing to one side. One forced his feet to move one in front of the other until he found himself standing in front of his worst nightmare. 

For a moment nothing happened and One could hear his ragged breathing, sounding loud in his ears. He couldn’t quite bring himself to look Corso in the face. His face, the familiar planes and lines of it. His face, that he could no longer bring himself to look at in the mirror. His face, that he hated.

He couldn’t stop himself from flinching when he felt Corso’s hand gently grasp his chin and tip his head up until he found himself looking into Corso’s brown eyes, eyes devoid of any warmth, empty of any feeling. 

Corso’s eyes seemed to search his for a moment and then he looked down and he trailed his fingers slowly down the right-hand side of One’s neck, lightly ghosting over One’s skin, making him shiver. Corso pulled One’s tee-shirt slightly away from his shoulder and he smiled.

“You kept my mark I see.” Corso stated.

One knew he was talking about the bite mark Corso had left in the skin where his neck met his right shoulder. The Android had done her best but the bite had been deep and had left behind little red scars where the new skin had formed where Corso’s teeth had broken the skin. He needed a skin graft to rid himself of the mark but the infirmary on the Raza didn’t have that kind of technology and the experience Six had when he went to a doctor on a space station to get a burn treated meant One knew his DNA would flag an alert to the authorities, especially after their escape from Hyperion- 8, and he couldn’t risk that. Most of the time he forgot the scar was there, after all he never looked in a mirror these days. However, sometimes it throbbed, a deep seated ache he felt right down to his bones, especially after he awoke from a particularly bad dream, the Android told him it was psychosomatic but it felt real to him.

Corso lightly ran his finger tips over the marks and One tried to turn it to his advantage.

“I couldn’t have it removed it’s become part of me.”

“Really?” Corso asked, a smile playing over his lips.

He trailed his fingers back up One’s neck, into his hair and gripping it lightly he tugged One’s head back slightly and leaning in he pressed his lips against One’s, gently at first and then more firmly. Corso’s right hand moved from where it rested on One’s waist and reaching around he grabbed One’s arse pulling him closer, his groin pressed against One’s meant One could feel Corso’s growing arousal. One gasped in shock and Corso took advantage to plunder his mouth with his tongue.

One tried, he really did, but eventually instinct over-rode his brain and he began to struggle, pushing his hands against Corso’s chest, wanting to escape. 

With a final swipe of One’s lower lip with his tongue Corso let him go and stepped back away from him licking his own lips.

“Mmmnn,” he murmured, “you taste just as good as I remember. But you don’t seem very enthusiastic. Maybe I should try elsewhere.” He said as he glanced at Five.

One followed Corso’s glance and saw Five’s pale face, still, watching, filled with fear.

“I’m sorry.” One said, “I can do better. I want to. Maybe if we went somewhere more private.”

One wanted to get Corso away from Five and would do anything to achieve that.

“Really,” Corso asked, “and if we did go somewhere private, what then?”

“I could show you how much I enjoyed our time together. I’d be willing, I want to be with you.” One told him, hoping he sounded sincere.

Corso laughed and shook his head and One’s heart sank.

“You certainly look like me but you can’t lie to save your life.”

Desperate One decided to try another tack and knowing he sounded desperate said,

“I’ll do anything. Anything you want just don’t hurt her, she’s innocent. Let her go and I’ll stay with you willingly, please.”

Corso laughed and replied,

“You really are naive aren’t you. With her here you’ll do anything I want anyway all I’ll have do is threaten to hurt her and you’ll be on your knees or on your back in a moment. You have no power here, you can’t lie to me, you can’t threaten me, and you can’t manipulate me. You are nothing.

In fact, I’ll tell you what we’re going to do, we’re going to play a little game. I have some things to attend to but when I come back we’re all going to play together, you, me and the girl, but I’ll give you the choice of what parts we play. It’s simple really either you watch while I fuck her or I get to watch while you fuck her.”

One heard Five gasp and rage, pure rage, surged up inside of him. He looked at the smirking, disgusting creature in front of him and saw red. With a roar he launched himself at Corso and puched him so hard in the face he knocked him on his arse. Determined to smash Corso’s face to a pulp he was only stopped when the goon standing behind him grabbed him, one arm around his waist and the other clamped over his mouth and One felt himself pulled tight against the much bigger man’s body and held there.

Corso slowly got up rubbing his jaw, a thin trickle of blood coming from his cut lip where One’s punch had landed.

One heard Five’s frantic voice calling out,

“Don’t hurt him, please don’t hurt him.”

Corso stood in front of One and slowly licked the blood from his lip and smiled.

“Oh, kitten has claws.” He purred.

Looking over One’s head Corso nodded at his thug who tightened his grip on One and then Corso reached out and took One’s right arm pulling it straight. The sound of the bone breaking seemed, to One, to reverberate around the room like a gunshot. The break was agony and One howled in pain, the sound dulled behind the hand that covered his mouth and if the goon wasn’t holding him up he would have collapsed to his knees. Corso stepped back for a moment seeming to revel in One’s pain. Then getting close again he reached up and wiped away the tears of pain that had gathered in One’s eyes quietly saying,

“Ssshhh, now why did you make me do that. I’m going to hurt you, we both know that, but that was foolish and unnecessary.” Moving back again he said more loudly, “now I’ve got some business to attend to when I get back I’ll bring a med kit to fix that arm of yours and then you can let me know your choice. If you don’t choose then I guess we’ll both get to watch while I let my men have her.”

Corso paused reaching out and patted One’s cheek with a smile before telling the thug holding One,

“Lock him back up and you and Mac wait outside.”

Turing on his heel he left the room, followed by his two men after One had been put back in his cell.

One sat on his bench carefully cradling his broken arm trying to get the pain under control. He looked up at Five’s hesitant voice,

“Are you okay?”

Looking back at her One summoned up the best smile he could manage,

“Yeah, it’ll be alright and it was worth it to knock that bastard onto his arse.”

Five nodded, then paused chewing her lip, looking down at her feet, indecisive before saying,

“I want it to be you.”

“What?” One asked, confused.

Five looked up into One’s face.

“When he comes back tell him that you’ll be the one who...well you know.” Five’s face flushed red in embarrassment.

One was horrified momentarily forgetting the pain from his arm he stood and moved over to the bars between their cells and putting his left hand through he took Five’s hand in his and said,

“No, I can’t, I can’t do that to you.”

Five took a breath and squeezed his fingers, “I’d rather it was you then him. It wouldn’t even really be...rape would it because I want you to do it.”

Her brave face faltered and she reached up with her free hand and hastily wiped away the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes.

“It won’t come to that.” One re-assured her. “I promise I’ll think of something, distract him when he comes back and buy us time for the others to get here. I’m not going to let him hurt you.”

At that moment they both heard the sounds of a scuffle coming from outside the room. The door suddenly burst open and Two, gun drawn, and Four, two swords dripping in blood, stepped into the room.

“See,” One grinned at Five, “I told you they’d come.”

Two came forward looking them both over her focus on Five,

“Are you okay? “ She asked the girl.

“Yes, yes.” Five told her,” One has a broken arm, we need to get out before he comes back.”

Two turned her head and called over her shoulder, “Android we need you in here.”

One was surprised to see the Android enter the room and turned a questioning look towards Two who shrugged saying, “We needed all the help we could get to get in here.”

The Android stood in front of Five’s cell and reaching out grasped the bars of the cell door and wrenched the door off it’s hinges like it was nothing before doing the same at One’s cell.

Without a word Four passed a handgun to Five and Two asked One, “Can you shoot with your left hand?”

Putting his hand out he accepted the gun she pulled from the small of her back and he nodded, “Not accurately but I can lay down cover.”

“Right let’s go,” Two said moving to the door of the room and as they stepped over the decapitated bodies of Corso’s two thugs she explained, “Three’s near the Marauder keeping our escape route open but we need to move, we’re not sure how many people Corso has down here.”

Their route back to Three’s position was littered with corpses which showed they were re-tracing Two and Four’s footsteps. They reached Three without incident, he was hunkered down behind some crates picking off attackers with a frightening accuracy. 

Three looked up at them as they approached relief clear on his face when he saw One and Five. The Marauder was behind him the ramp down, the interior looking inviting and safe. 

“Let’s get out of here”. Two ordered, “Android fire up the engines, Four cover her, Five with me, Three with One. Ready?”

They all nodded. Two, Five Three and One laid covering fire down for the Android and Four. The sound of the Marauder’s engines powering up signalled Two and Five to move cover provided by Three and One on the ground and Four from the Marauder’s doorway. Finally, it was time for Three and One to move. As they backed away towards the Marauder being covered by the others a movement to the right caught Three’s eye. He pushed One behind him with his left hand and turned his weapon towards the movement. He faltered for a moment confronted with One’s face but the raised gun pointing at him and One broke the spell and he fired at the same time as Corso. Corso’s shot whizzed past Three’s ear, Three’s shot took away half of Corso’s head. 

88888888888888888888

One walked into the mess and found who he was looking for. Three was sat at the table sipping a whiskey his feet crossed at his ankles resting up on the table, aiming for nonchalant but to One’s eyes not quite pulling it off. 

One poured himself a coffee from the pot a little awkward not used to the cast on his right arm aware of Three’s eyes on his back watching him. Taking his coffee he sat across from Three who nodded towards his arm and asked,

“How long do you have to wear that thing?”

“The Android says a week, it was a clean break and she’s knitted the bone together it just needs some support while it finishes healing.”

Three nodded, adding, “Five told us how it happened and about what that bastard threatened.”

One sipped his coffee unsure what to say. Not really wanting to talk about what had happened to him and Five, not right then anyway, so he changed the subject.

“The Android told me about how you managed to find us. Lucky their shuttle had that engine glitch that meant the Android could trace it’s course once they hit atmosphere.”

“Yeah,” Three agreed.

The silence stretched, both of them unsure what to say to each other until One drained his cup and stood up. He took a few steps to the doorway before stopping and turning back to Three saying,

“Thanks for killing him.”

“My pleasure.” Three shrugged trying to sound unconcerned.

“If you ever need to talk.” One offered.

Three raised an eyebrow at him and said, “thanks but I don’t need counselling when I kill a rat.”

“Even when that rat has the face of someone you know?” One asked him before shrugging and adding, “well the offer’s there. For me though I think I might be able to get a good night’s sleep tonight knowing he’s no longer out there.

Thank you as well for...being my friend through this whole thing. I’m not sure I’d still be here if you hadn’t found me that night outside the airlock.”

Three raised his glass at One and said,

“Well to quote a know-it-all spider, ‘you have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing, after all, what's a life anyway? We're born, we live a little while, we die. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone's life can stand a little of that.'” 

One stared at Three for a moment and then laughed. “Well, I can’t argue with that I guess.”

Shaking his head and still chuckling to himself he left for his quarters.

Three watched him leave and acknowledged to himself that he wanted to be more than One’s friend, a lot more. However, he knew One was not ready for anything more than friendship and probably wouldn’t be ready for a while. But he could wait, when it was something worth having Three could be very patient, and if One was never ready for anything more than Three would be his friend.

Author’s Note – Three is of course quoting the know-it-all spider in Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White.


	7. Epilogue

The Perfect Sky is Torn – Epilogue

Half a galaxy away from the Raza a Transfer Transit pod opened. Jace Corso stepped out and stretched, he had no memory from his clone so he assumed his plan had been a success and as far as the crew of the Raza were concerned he was dead – perfect. Now they’d never see him coming. 

He had plans for them all. The ship he’d sell to the highest bidder, returning the Android to its factory settings, the Raza was fast and manoeuvrable with a reputation which spoke for itself. Portia Lin had a handsome price on her head and he’d been negotiating with some scientist arsehole called Alex Rook who was very keen on having her delivered to him. A family reunion was on the books for Ryo Tetsuda, his stepmother being very anxious to get her hands on him. The real surprise had been the girl who was of interest to some very dark, shadowy types working for the GA. Seems she’d stolen something very important that some nasty people wanted back. He was getting more money for her alone than all the rest of them put together. He didn’t envy her, even he found these people sinister.

That left Marcus Boone who was only of interest to the GA, and that reward wasn’t worth him getting out of bed for, and, of course, his little imposter friend, who he now knew was some corporate type called Derrick Moss. He’d been curious about who had stolen his face so the second time he’d injected him with a sedative after all the fun they’d had together he’d taken a blood sample which he’d later had analysed. It seemed Moss had been declared dead by the board of his company who now had total control over the corporation he’d owned, so no one really wanted him back.

However, Corso had plenty of plans for him in mind. Boone as well, because a little digging into Moss’ background had thrown up an interesting connection between him and Boone which explained a lot. Corso wondered if Boone knew Moss was on board the Raza looking for revenge, somehow he doubted it, but he knew he could use the information himself.

Anyway the payday from the rest of the crew meant Corso could afford to lay low for a while in a perfect little hide out he had tucked away on a nice private moon. It had been a long time since he’d had time to relax and play. It had been too long since he’d had a pet to play with, someone to break completely only to build them back up into his own creature. Oh, he was looking forward to this.

THE END

Author’s Note – TBC in the final story in this three story arc called “The Abyss”, coming soon.

"Torn" - Natalie Imbruglia

I thought, I saw a man brought to life  
He was warm, he came around and he was dignified  
He showed me what it was to cry  
Well, you couldn't be that man I adored  
You don't seem to know  
Seem to care what your heart is for  
But I don't know him anymore

There's nothing where he used to lie  
The conversation has run dry  
That's what's going on  
Nothing's fine, I'm torn

I'm all out of faith  
This is how I feel  
I'm cold and I am shamed  
Lying naked on the floor

Illusion never changed  
Into something real  
I'm wide awake and I can see  
The perfect sky is torn  
You're a little late, I'm already torn

So I guess the fortune teller's right  
Should have seen just what was there  
And not some holy light

It crawled beneath my veins  
And now I don't care, I had no luck  
I don't miss it all that much  
There's just so many things  
That I can touch, I'm torn

I'm all out of faith  
This is how I feel  
I'm cold and I am shamed  
Lying naked on the floor

Illusion never changed  
Into something real  
I'm wide awake and I can see  
The perfect sky is torn  
You're a little late, I'm already torn, torn

There's nothing where he used to lie  
My inspiration has run dry  
That's what's going on  
Nothing's right, I'm torn

I'm all out of faith  
This is how I feel  
I'm cold and I am shamed  
Lying naked on this floor

Illusion never changed  
Into something real  
I'm wide awake and I can see  
The perfect sky is torn

I'm all out of faith  
This is how I feel  
I'm cold and I'm ashamed  
Bound and broken on the floor  
You're a little late, I'm already torn, torn”


End file.
